This disclosure relates to a method for enhanced semiconductor product diagnostic fail signature detection and to a system for accomplishing this.
Integrated circuits (ICs) are deemed bad when they contain certain defects that cause the ICs to fail the specifications. Defects are unintended structural and/or material changes in the IC due to design/manufacturing imperfections. These physical changes may alter the electrical characteristics of the circuit, which are sometimes severe enough to lead to a failure (i.e., a violation of one or more design specifications). Common defects in IC manufacturing can be caused by contaminations in the process, variations of the process conditions, or simply the difficulty to fabricate certain features of the design. As would be expected, these defects are undesirable.